One bulge bracket bank is stepping up on World Mental Health Day

Investment bank Citigroup will have a mental health nurse permanently onsite at its Canary Wharf headquarters to deal with stressed employees, as it joins a growing number of City institutions focussed on the wellbeing of staff.

Citi, which today announced the initiative to staff to coincide with World Mental Health Day, will have a counsellor in its London office five days a week within its health facility. Previously the firm had outsourced its counselling services.

Mental health has risen up the agenda for City firms after a number of high-profile suicides, a focus on long-hours culture and a debate in wider society about tackling the taboo of mental health. In 2016, a Financial News survey found 60% of people regularly hid family or friend relationship issues at work and 20% try to hide mental health problems.

James Bardrick, head of the bank's UK operations, said Citi's management team in London has had "more and more conversations" about the mental wellbeing of its workforce as has seen more incidences of staff "at varying degrees suffering stress or anxiety or more deep-seated and difficult conditions".

He added: "We thought we need to be including it and addressing it ourselves.”

Bardrick is one of a number of Citi employees who feature on an internal video released to staff talking about their own mental health. Bardrick talks about a period 17 years ago when his wife left him and he started seeing a psychiatrist.

"You can quite easily be in denial that this thing has got to you and is causing you mental health issues," he said. "For someone who has been very self motivated, [and] at many levels would outwardly appear successful and quite confident and very used to looking after themselves, it’s quite a big step to accept that you need help."

As part of World Mental Health Day the bank has also installed portraits of individuals battling with addiction in the lobby of its Canary Wharf building. The portraits are by artist Daniela Raytchev.

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